What Biden’s tariffs on Chinese EV’s and other products mean for U.S. consumers, jobs

President Joe Biden is expected to finalize significant tariffs on some Chinese imports this week.

The taxes are a continuation of Donald Trump's tough-on-China trade policies. Both men have touted these kinds of tariffs as a way to protect American jobs.

But do they really?

Sanjay Patnaik, Director of the Center on Regulation and Markets at the Brookings Institution, told Morning Edition it’s a little more complicated because tariffs can actually lead to job losses and higher costs for U.S. consumers.

For starters, what is a tariff and how high are the new ones on China?

A tariff is basically a tax on imported goods that come from abroad, Patnaik said.

“So let's say we have a German car that is being manufactured in Germany, and as that car enters the U.S., [the importers] have to pay a tax or tariff at the border to the American government,” Patnaik said.

Biden’s new tariffs on China range from 100% tariffs on electric vehicles to 50% on solar cells and 25% on aluminum and steel products and respirators and face masks. Other hikes will go into effect in 2025 and 2026.

What have tariffs meant for the U.S. economy

Patnaik said the impact of tariffs is mixed and depends on the industry.

“When we look at the at the record of the Trump administration and the Biden administration in terms of tariffs, what we have seen so far is that the latest studies show that there is a net loss in jobs, at least of 140,000 to 275,000 jobs across industries and an increase in prices and additional costs that American consumers have to pay,” Patnaik said.

He added that this could continue with the tariffs that President Biden is considering in that the higher cost of these tariffs could be passed on to U.S. consumers.

Why tariffs can lead